Happy Victoria Day! Today we made a Victoria Sponge Cake in honor of Queen Victoria.

Apparently (according to Wikipedia…) Queen Victoria used to love having a slice of sponge cake with her afternoon tea, and so today in honor of Queen Victoria and her afternoon sponge, we made you this classic and tasty dessert.

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Victoria Sponge Cake 

Cake: 

• 1 Tablespoon of Butter or Cooking Spray
• 1 Cup Butter (Softened)
• 1 Cup Sugar
• 4 Large Eggs
• 1 Tablespoon Vanilla Bean Paste or Extract
• 1 Cup AP Flour (Sifted)
• 1 1/2 Teaspoons Baking Powder
• 1/2 Teaspoon Salt
• Powder Sugar (Dusting)

Filling: 

• 1 Cup Heavy Cream
• 2 Tablespoons Powder Sugar
• 1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
• 1/2 Teaspoon Lemon Extract
• 2/3 Cup of Good Quality Strawberry Jam
• Fresh sliced strawberry

Step 1: 

Preheat your oven to 350°F. If using butter, melt over a low flame and brush the bottom of your two 8 inch round cake pans and line with parchment paper. If using cooking spray, spray the pans and set aside.

Step 2: 

In a large bowl or stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, beat together the  butter and the sugar until light a fluffy. Make sure to beat it well to ensure you get a lot of air into the batter.

Step 3: 

Next, beat the eggs in one at a time. It’s really important to beat the eggs in one at a time, and remember to scrape down the sides of the bowl between each egg. You want the batter to stay light and airy.

There is a possibility that the mixture may curdle, that’s okay, Just at 1 Tablespoon of AP flour. Don’t take from your other flour mixture though.

Step 4: 

Mix in the vanilla extract.

Step 5: 

In a small, separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder and salt.

Step 6: 

Fold the flour mixture into your wet ingredients. Don’t over mix!

Step 7: 

Equally divide the batter between the two greased cake pans. Spread them out evenly and tap them against the counter to get out all the air bubbles.

Step 8: 

Place the cakes in the oven and bake for 20-25 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool in their pans for 5 -10 minutes. Remove from their pans and let cool completely for at least an hour.

Assembling the Cake 

Step 1: 

Once the cakes are cooled, place on our serving plate. Spread the jam on both sides of the cake. place about half the strawberries on top of the jam.

Step 2: 

In a medium bowl, beat one cup of heavy cream in on high. When the cream starts to take shape, mix in your powder sugars and both extracts. Beat to desired consistency

Step 3: 

Spread the whipped cream evenly over the strawberry and top with the rest of the strawberries. Sandwich the two cakes together and dust the top with powdered sugar.

Cut and serve.